Selecting your supplies for scrapping

We’re five weeks into capturing the season and its time to start thinking about your pages (if you haven’t already). The week between Christmas and New Years offers extra bits of down time, perfect for getting organized and scrapping! Your first task is to officially select your supplies.

To begin, you’ll want to consider what style you’d like to work with for your holiday pages. Are you a modern minimalist, an artsy, glittery girl, a whimsical free spirit or a homespun traditionalist? I enjoy all of these styles throughout the year, but find it helpful to narrow my focus when completing a project.

Next, make a personal decision about how you want to shop for your holiday memory keeping supplies. I find it helpful to have a plan in mind so I don’t buy every new product that catches my eye.

1. Shop your stash. You likely downloaded a dozen or more holiday kits last year. Even if the elements aren’t up to your liking, be on the lookout for innovative, fun papers.

2. Shop for a versatile kit/paper pack. Many of the larger holiday-themed kits and especially paper packs have papers and basic elements in colors other than red and green. Look for a strong collection that can serve your needs from Thanksgiving to the New Year.

3. Shop ’til you drop. Choose one style, but then go hog wild with the products. Use a new product for every layout and bring in consistency with your templates and fonts.

With your shopping strategy in mind, take advantage of the many sales still going on plus the plethora of coupons designers have released over this past week!

My Supplies

I’m trending towards whimsical designs with a few glittery elements. However, using my templates, the effect will come off as quite minimalist! Primarily shopping from my stash, here are the products I expect to use:

Week 1: The Blues from Pineapple Plantation Designs and Ziggle Designs

Week 2: Petite Noel papers by Studio Baers Garten

Week 2: Winter Spell freebie from ScrapMalin

Week 3: Santa Baby by Kristin Cronin-Barrow

Week 4: Candy Cane Lane by Kristin Cronin-Barrow

Week 5: Jack Frost by Kristin Cronin-Barrow

Week 6: Year to Shine by Summer Driggs

I want to encourage you to post here or on your blog about the products you plan to use. Don’t feel constrained by your decisions if the products don’t work out in the end. Use your creativity to re-mix and re-purpose to make your layouts perfect for your photos and stories.

Photo by carolynnoble